


Naiveté's Bloom

by HiddenEyes056



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Fantasy, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 11:42:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5162600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenEyes056/pseuds/HiddenEyes056
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lavender, a fifteen-year-old magical prodigy, has finally been given clearance to join the renowned Guild of Adventurers and set off on her own journey, despite her age. The only snag in this otherwise noble pursuit is the small issue of hiring fellow adventurers. Only one adventurer listed is within her price-range, a powerful warrior from a distant land. His price and skills seem almost too good to be true. Without worrying on it any further, Lavender plans to hire him without knowing what could possibly be the catch for this seemingly great deal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Naiveté's Bloom

"They are all so expensive! How could I possibly afford any of these people?"

Standing outside the recruitment centre of the illustrious Guild of Adventurers was a young girl clad in the robes of a mage. No older than 15, she wore the copper emblem of a guild recruit, a privilege generally reserved for those full-grown. This girl, desperately searching the recruitment board for an ally in her price range, was known as Lavender Bloom, magical prodigy of the Arcane School of Turmkligne. Having surpassed her course years earlier than her peers, she was granted a special permit to join the Guild as a means to travel to meet masters of magic to learn from. She had found supplies for her journey, packed her clothes and magic staff, and had even scrounged up a small amount of money to begin her travels. What ailed her now was the trouble that most adventurers come across when starting off - the Guild's copper-level 'Party Rule' that restricts first-timers from departing alone on any mission without someone a level above or higher. The problem existed in that adventurers without friends of a higher level were forced to pay a stronger adventurer to take them along. Even the barely-higher brass-level adventurers on the board were outside of Lavender's price-range.

"Hoy, girl. Not enough money, eh?" A rough voice had called from somewhere above the kneeling girl. Looking up, Lavender spotted what many would describe as the least trustworthy man in the entire kingdom. His beady eyes took in every feature of Lavender's, from her long and luxurious blonde curls, to the baby blue eyes that stared up at him, to the fashionably short-hemmed robe the girl wore.  
"I've got someone you can take with ye, heh. Real cheap, even though 'e's iron level." Iron level was at least a few levels above the starting copper. Most others would be extremely suspicious, but Lavender was, unfortunately, a rather naive girl. She took the proffered sheet of paper containing the mystery adventurer's details and read it over. Sure enough, he was iron level. A warrior from a place Lavender had barely heard of, knowing only that it was many months away even by boat, he appeared to be a member of a certain species of catfolk. As her eyes scanned down the ominously sparse details, she reached the cost at the bottom that insisted he would travel with anyone for merely a single copper coin. It was strange, surely, but in Lavender's mind he seemed only a kindly warrior who wished to help new recruits. Odd, though, that his picture wasn't on the wall with the rest. Lavender agreed without delay, signing her name upon a list. Conveniently, it seemed the warrior was staying at the guild house just across the road.  
"Thank you very much, sir!" Lavender gave a curtsy to the man, who responded with a gross laugh and another sickening once-over with his eyes. Immediately she set off to meet her newest travelling companion, identified on the sheet only as 'Kol'.

He was not hard to spot. Despite the number of people inside the guild's main rest house, none quite matched the sheer imposing size of the warrior, even those in full armour. His skin was a dark brown, every inch rippling with muscle and marked with scars. Golden eyes stared with terrifying intensity at the meal before him as he crudely tore it apart between clawed hand and vicious teeth. In contrast to his powerful image, two pointed cat-like ears topped his head, covered with a black fur the same colour of his long and untamed hair. An equally black tail waved behind him, thick and matted.  
"Excuse me," Lavender approached, holding the paper advertisement before her like a shield, "Are you ... Sir Kol?"  
The warrior looked her over with the same expression he had used to regard his lunch. "You are here to hire Kol? I am Kol."  
Lavender handed him the piece of paper, which Kol shoved aside without thought. She handed him the copper coin, which was likewise dismissed to his coin pouch. This close, she realised the man only really had one item of clothing on, a ragged loincloth that left little to the imagination. Apart from that, he had a surprisingly hefty pouch of coins and a sword taller and likely older than Lavender herself. Any other person may have found some reason to excuse themselves at this point, perhaps take up a profession in something safer like arrow-catching or sword-swallowing. Lavender was not that person. Instead, she immediately took a seat opposite the warrior and smiled a perfect smile at him.  
"My name is Lavender Bloom, arcane mage. I specialise in healing and enchantment, and wish to hire you to help me hone my skills and--"  
Kol held up a hand. "Kol does not need to know. Kol will adventure with you, if you will adventure with Kol."  
Lavender simply nodded, slightly deflated without her opportunity to explain her mission. Surely she imagined they would be able to speak on the road instead! It was not possible to truly discourage this girl.

Kol quickly devoured the rest of his lunch, slung his sheathed blade across his immense shoulders and gestured for the two to begin their journey. When he stood, he was easily more than twice the size of Lavender.  
"So, Sir Kol, I was hoping we could take this path," Lavender gestured to a map as she tried to keep pace with his strides, "It will be the fastest way to reach the--"  
"Kol needs to finish quest first. Kill many bandits in forest. We go there first. Then your way."  
"I ... I see." Lavender quietly packed away her map. He was the stronger adventurer, after all, so it only made sense to finish his quest first ... Lavender only hoped she wouldn't get in the way.  
Mere minutes after their first meeting, the pair passed the safety of the town's gate. Now heading quite in the opposite direction of her carefully planned and significantly safer route, Lavender had entrusted her life to this complete stranger as they descended into the dark forest ...


End file.
